A record cover by Karin “Mamma” Andersson

Karin Andersson (born 28th February 1962 in Luleå in northern Sweden) is a Swedish painter who has achieved international acclaim. Her paintings sell for megabucks. As far as I can find out she has previously not been responsible for any record cover art. She began using the nickname “Mamma” in 1992 at an exhibition from the Swedish Kungliga Konstakademin and the name has stuck. Mattias Alkberg (born 8th January 1969) is a poet and musician from Luleå, Sweden. He came to prominence in the cult band The Bear Quartet and has since fronted several constellations, the latest being Mattias Alkbergs Begravning (Mattias Alkberg’s Funeral.) For Record Store Day 2014 Mattias Alkberg produced a 12-inch, four-track EP entitled “Epitafium”. The EP was released in extremely limited quantities. It was packaged in a fold-out poster cover painted by Karin “Mamma” Andersson.

I had read about this record in a design magazine and decided I really had to try to get hold of a copy. But two months had past since Record Store Day and I was not too hopeful. However, there are four record shops in my part of Stockholm, so I tried those first. No luck – and one shop owner told me how limited the release was that I would not be able to find a copy, unless I found one on Ebay. I wouldn’t take that as gospel and took the underground to Pet Sounds – Stockholm’s best record shop. Of course they had several copies on the shelf. But I only needed one. Thank you, Pet Sounds. Mission accomplished.